Orange carpet
   Date :29-Apr-2023

Orange 
 
 
I WAS driving on a flyover today and I spotted the beautiful and huge orange canopy. Oh! you are back, it is almost a year since I saw you. How refreshing it is to see you back, I said aloud. I came across a few more canopies. I was in hurry to reach the bottom of the flyover to find the origin of canopy. There she was!! Standing tall and welcoming me with a rich orange carpet. The Gulmohar Tree. What a treat it is, to have an orange carpet and a matching canopy in the scorching heat of April month. This scene transported me back to my school days. Schools invariably reopened on 1st of June in South.
Our excitement to go to the school was at the peak. New uniform (oversized at times), school bag, note books, black slate (some teachers insisted) and second hand neatly wrapped text books. Steel tiffin was a bonus. What else I wanted. I used to start from my house and time it in such a way to join other friends joining from each lane. Six of us had a lot to talk. We were talking about our holidays, relatives, new hobbies etc. Half a kilometer stretch of walking from my house to school was a memorable experience thought the school days but walking in the month of June was very special. On both the sides of street, we had Gulmohar trees. It was as if the trees had laid the orange carpet for us. Our school compound too had a couple of Gulmohar trees. We used to have lunch underneath one of the trees. What a treat it was to sit on an orange carpet and share lunch with friends. On breezy days, we would get the shower of orange flowers. They had their own charm on rainy days. Flowers pearls of rainwater. we used to wait for such occasions.
Collecting fresh flowers and pressing them between the pages was a must activity for us. Our group of friends was given the task of collecting flowers and make a bouquet for guests who visited the school. At times, we had to be called by teachers to hurry up. We could spend hours in admiring the vibrant color, smooth texture of flowers and complementary leaves. Buds have their own beauty. A tinge of yellow colur used to peep out. Some of our friends were interested in buds only. It came handy to throw them from last benches.
There was one tree in the school compound which was dedicated for punishment. Students had to stand under that specific tree so that Principal could watch the kids and kids had good time watching the street. Punishment was more of blessing to enjoy on an orange carpet and crown. Our drawing teacher made it mandatory for our class to draw some part of the Gulmohar tree. 40 drawings with splash of orange, green and brown colours were prepared for exhibition in the month of June. This is one the best memories I carry with me. One specific tree gave shelter to bags during our sports hour, which was always the last hour of the school those days. It also acted as finish line for all the races. We called that good luck tree. Took blessing from this tree before the exams. There was yet another tree near the gate. We used to stand under this tree after school hours. This tree witnessed our emotions and all our meltdowns. A bunch of flowers from the tree on our laps assured us to leave all our worries and go home happily. During our school times, students and teachers used all the elements like trees, natural slopes, rocks etc. as part of learning activities. I seldom see such adaptation in the present-day schools. Anyways, time change, situation change and perspective change too. Full bloom Gulmohar trees brought back memories of my school days and I am going to enjoy orange carpet and orange canopy this summer.